Conventional collapsible umbrellas include a canopy which is usually either circular or polygonal, and conical or pyramidal, when deployed. To deploy, shape and support their canopy they generally include a control with a collar that slides along a vertical post, and many sets of radial stays and struts grouped around the post.
The stays are hinged to the top of the post, and the struts are hinged to the collar. Stays and struts are hinged to each other in pairs, so when the collar is brought down, the struts follow it and pull the stays and themselves against the post.
The canopy fits over the top of the post, and often is fixed to it. It is attached to the stays. Sometimes the stays are stitched into the canopy or are fitted in a slot in the canopy. In other types, the canopy includes pockets into which the ends of the stays are inserted.
Such controls are complex and costly, and the canopy shapes are complex, both of which add material and labor cost. Often a broken control cannot readily be repaired, and the canopies, of course, are custom made to these rather complex shapes.
Because these conventional constructions are conical or pyramidal, they tend to trap air beneath them in the wind, and are too-readily blown over. Some larger sized canopies are provided with vents and covers to enable at least some of the air trapped by the canopy to escape, and hopefully reduce the likelihood of being blown away by the wind. The shape of canopy which is enabled by this invention does not trap air and is much less likely to blow away.
Conventional folding umbrellas when collapsed necessarily form a bulky, poorly disciplined bundle in which the entire soiled upper surface of the canopy must be directly handled by the person who puts it away. Also, the person who takes down the umbrella is directly in the path of the descending edge of the canopy. He must be nimble.
In addition, most conventional umbrellas are formed at their edges as a circle or as a polygon with a number of edges. These shapes when deployed are generally not able to be placed next to one another to provide a continuous shelter. There will usually be intervening gaps.
It is an object of this invention to provide a shelter in which the canopy is mounted on a reel that is spring loaded toward retraction so that when it is retracted, the canopy is stored on a reel with only a small outer surface exposed, and this above the head of the user.
It is another object of this invention to provide a control with only one strut, and no radial stay, for each side of a dihedral canopy with a single central dihedral edge.
It is another object of this invention to provide a dihedrally shaped canopy which can be abutted neatly to its neighbor so as to provide either a long clear span of a plurality of canopies, or a series of transversely "notched" structures. Both have an optimum head clearance and a remarkably uncluttered appearance due to the absence of the complex controls used in conventional umbrellas. The user of the shelter of this invention sees only one transverse strut on each side of the post for each canopy, and sees these only when looking along the "trough" of the deployed canopy.
It is another object of this invention to provide a canopy that is simply formed by a rectangular piece of fabric, rather than assembled from many pieces to form the complex shapes required for conventional umbrellas.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide means for the reel or reels, edge formers, and canopy to be tilted as a body against the center pole when retracted.